Zane Ormsby

Deciding on a career in engineering was Zane’s way to contribute to developing the world, with a particular passion for innovative health technologies.

‘I wanted to make a positive difference. This goal developed in me an interest in biomedical engineering, where I saw an opportunity to give back fuller lives to others,’ he says. ‘I saw a Mechatronics degree as a great way to learn a very broad set of skills, which when applied take a different perspective to problems in medicine.’

Zane quickly earned the opportunity to do so within projects at Tiro Medical, a start-up company developing digital medical technologies, with a UC Summer Research Scholarship.

His connections made while studying helped secure a Development Engineer role straight after graduating. Zane’s current project supports the company’s breast cancer screening system.

‘I work on range of tasks involved with the hardware and software aspects of the screening system, these include: embedded software and hardware developments; computer vision modelling; and post data analysis for cancer diagnostics.’

A key part of doing an Engineering degree, according to Zane, is the opportunity to try the range of different areas and develop technical skills in a variety of backgrounds.

‘As you go through your first year you’ll learn a lot about what’s involved in each specialisation and the different opportunities they can lead to. By the end of this first year you’ll be well informed to decide what path you want to follow next.

‘The skills I learnt in my Mechatronics degree have given me a broad foundation to find solutions to a range of problems. Getting to study aspects of Mechanical, Electrical and Computer Engineering is really valuable as it helps to think about technical problems from a wider perspective.’

He received an Ian McMillan Prize for his results after his First Professional Year of the degree, on top of the UC Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship and UC Emerging Leaders Scholarship when first enrolling, for his high school results and leadership potential.

Already on the path to achieving his dream, Zane is looking forward to supporting more commercial medical technologies in the near future.

‘It is exciting to work on the forefront of a project with the potential to make a life changing impact,’ he says. ‘Every day there are new challenges which provide a real sense of accomplishment to solve.’